[The emergence of the chorda tympani from the tympanic cavity and its course until its entry into the lingual nerve].

Because there are a lot of contradictory opinions in the literature we investigated the intra- and extraosseous pathway of the Chorda tympani by dissecting the heads of 6 cadavers. The Chorda nerve leaves the temporal bone in the Fissura sphenopetrosa behind the Spina ossis sphenoidalis. In an angle of 24 degrees-28 degrees the Chorda nerve connects up with the lingual nerve. The extraosseous distance is about 1.3 to 3 time longer then the intraosseous one. The individual variations of the intraosseous distance are greater than those of the extraosseous one. This is behalf the individual variations in the structure of the temporal bone.